Competiveness: Firms, Clusters and Economic Development is a MBA course created by Professor Michael Porter and colleagues at the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School The course examines the factors that determines competitiveness and economic development from a bottom up, microeconomic outlook. The strategies of firms, the strength of clusters, and quality of the business environment in which competition takes place are what ultimate determines a nation or region’s productivity.

This course covers both developing and advanced economies, and addresses competitiveness at multiple geographic levels, from groups of countries (e.g., the European Union). The course will not only examine theory and policy, but also the real-world implications for all stakeholders.

Global Reach – This course is taught not only at the Centre for Strategy and Competitiveness, Arthur Lok Jack Global School, but at approximately 100 universities around the world. These faculty are affiliated through a HBS-managed network to enable the sharing of course materials, research, and ideas globally. As this network expands, there is an even greater advancement of competitiveness theory and practice.